Saxophonist Ivo Perelman, pianist Matthew Shipp, and bassist William Parker have had decades-long relationships on stages, in studios, and just standing alongside each other with their instruments out. Drummer Bobby Kapp may not have joined this trio often, but he’s been plying his trade since the sixties, including with notables like Marion Brown, Gato Barbieri, Perelman, and Shipp, and made a pair of records with them in the late two thousand-teens. Point being: these four are all old friends who interact musically the way siblings do whenever they get together, no matter how long it’s been since the last time.
Synesthesia displays their chemistry quite well in a series of five improvisations. Each member of this quartet packs a lot of firepower, but they choose not to unleash it here. Instead they listen carefully to each other, reacting less to the lines their brothers perform, and more to the overall vibe. Parker sets much of the tone, his distinctive bass throb settling into simple but effective grooves, occasionally pulling out his bow to add some arco atmosphere. Shipp splashes colors across the canvas, less interested in soloing than in painting vibrant scenery against which his fellows can create. Perelman leads the melodies with his keening alto, circling around the setting, probing it, sometimes disrupting it, but never adding discordance for its own sake. Kapp fills in the rest of the space, not with chaos, but with subtlety, even if it means he lays back nearly completely.
The ensemble uses their collective process to build up steam, starting playfully poking at each other in “One,” before letting the fire rage in “Five.” It continues a practice in all of Perelman’s many projects involving group spontaneity: gather individuals who know each other’s strengths and enjoy a mutual affection and respect, put them in front of a microphone, and good things inevitably happen. On Synthesia (as on-target a title as can be for a free jazz album), those things are very good indeed.
